Warriors: Red Snow
by Flashcloud
Summary: This is the story of Blossompaw, apprentice of ThunderClan. Captured by a group of rogues and their deadly leader, can she escape before it's too late? Please read and review.
1. Allegiances

_Allegiances_

**ThunderClan**

**Leader:** Eaglestar – black and white tom with amber eyes

**Deputy:** Tawnyfoot – small tawny she-cat

**Medicine Cat:** Firetooth – old orange tabby tom

**Warriors:**

Silentflight – white tom with green eyes

Ferntail – pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

(apprentice: Blossompaw)

Blackear – black tom with a scarred pelt

(apprentice: Dapplepaw)

Heavybird – large dark tabby she-cat

Pinefall – light brown tom with yellow eyes

(apprentice: Aquapaw)

Shadestep – dark gray tom

Leafwatcher – dappled brown she-cat

Raggedpoppy – long haired brown and white she-cat

(apprentice: Oakpaw)

Sharpthorn – broad shouldered orange spotted tom

Morningrise – tan and white she-cat with green eyes

(apprentice: Mintpaw)

**Apprentices:**

Blossompaw – striped calico she-cat with sparkling green eyes

Dapplepaw – brown speckled she-cat

Aquapaw – light orange tabby tom with big blue eyes

Oakpaw – brown tabby tom with a white underbelly

Mintpaw – spotted brown tabby she-cat

**Queens:**

Roseclaw – light gray tabby and white she-cat

(kits: Petalkit, Sagekit, Mistkit)

Sedgeheart – red brown tabby she-cat

(kits: Thornkit, Meadowkit)

**Elders:**

Brackenfeather – gray-brown tabby tom

Lizardstone – light spotted gray she-cat

Goldstripe – pale tabby tom

xxx

**RiverClan**

**Leader: **Ivystar – light brown tabby and white she-cat

**Deputy: **Twistedjaw – orange tabby tom

**Medicine Cat: **Webdrop – calico and tabby she-cat

xxx

**WindClan**

**Leader: **Coldstar – silver tabby tom

**Deputy: **Fleetsong – dark gray spotted tabby tom

**Medicine Cat: **Oakcloud – brown tabby tom

xxx

**ShadowClan**

**Leader: **Ravenstar – black tom with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Jaystalker – fluffy gray she-cat with green eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Cedarfrost – brown and white tom

xxx

**Outside the Clans**

Honey – pale orange she-cat

Sparrow – brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Eclipse – black and white tom

Moth – silver and white she-cat


	2. Prologue

_Prologue_

There was never any hope for a sickly, starving cat without the will or ability to lift herself to hunt. If you were out alone in the woods and you collapsed from exhaustion and hunger, it would be ages before a patrol would find you, and by then it would be too late. This was the fate of my mother, Emberstorm. They said she was slightly mad from the lack of prey. Her body didn't have enough nutrition. They found her three days after she left the camp, her body half-eaten by birds and foxes. I was devastated by this, as I had only just been made an apprentice of my Clan.

My father, Pinefall, did not feel the same as I. He had already found another mate anyway. Her name was Sedgeheart, and she gave birth to Thornkit and Meadowkit, my half-siblings, on the day that my mother died. That's how it was. No commitment between mates, except for the rare occasion where a tom and she-cat would made for life. That wasn't the case for anyone in my Clan right now. We just needed new kits, new kits who would grow into warriors and provide food and protection for our dying Clan

All the foliage in the forest was dying out. It was all a sickly brown color, and brittle enough to break off with a breeze. There was a thick layer of frost on the hard ground. It wasn't just our Clan that was withering and fading, it was all the territories by the lake as well. Ever since the lake had been drained by the Twolegs, nothing grew quite as well as it should have. RiverClan didn't have any fish to eat, either. WindClan was feeling the bitter chill of the harsh leafbare. ShadowClan hadn't been heard from in moons, not even turning up at gatherings.

On a harsh winter's night is when my friend Mintpaw received a prophecy in her dreams. She wasn't the medicine cat apprentice, though Firetooth had always tried to convince her to change paths. She wanted to be a warrior more than anything. Even if she did a special connection with StarClan, she wasn't about to change for destiny's sake.

She told me the prophecy moments after she woke up from her dreams. She said, "No flowers will grow until red stains the silver snow."

Mintpaw didn't know what this meant, and neither did I.

She wasn't about to tell Firetooth about the prophecy either. She didn't want the Clan to pressure her into becoming a medicine cat. So she kept it a secret, and asked me to do the same. I promised her that no matter what I wouldn't tell anyone about the prophecy.

Today I broke that promise.

Today I will die.


	3. Stop Heartbeat

**CHAPTER ONE**

_Stop Heartbeat_

_xxx_

**Blossompaw woke to **the feeling of warm sun rays on her patched pelt. There hadn't been a warm day in what felt like ages upon ages. She opened her green eyes and looked outside, disappointed to find out that this feeling was only remnants of last night's dream. She had been out in fields in the bright warm sunshine, chasing butterflies through tall grass with all of her friends. In the real world, snow was fluttering from the sky and accumulating on the frozen ground. A chilling wind found its way into the apprentice den, ruffling her fur and giving her shivers.

Her best friend Mintpaw was sleeping next to her, unfazed by the wind because she was surrounded by warm bodies. Blossompaw didn't want to wake her up, so she carefully stood up and walked out of the den. The snow made the pads of her paws freeze, and she shook her feet to get the flakes off of her. She only managed to narrowly avoid tripping into a deep rift. Her belly was growling, but there was no food in the fresh kill pile today. It had been the same yesterday, too. Any food that was caught was immediately given to the queens and the weakest cats in the Clan.

Ferntail, her mentor, had taken shelter beneath an overhanging rock. The soft snow was still falling, but it could hardly manage to touch the places that were shaded by the jagged stones that were looming precariously over the camp. The quarry had eroded with time, and landslides were becoming more and more common every day. There had been many fatalities associated with rocks tumbling down on top of a poor unsuspecting cat.

"Good morning, Ferntail," Blossompaw greeted with a dip of her head.

The pale gray warrior stared at her through weary blue eyes. "Good morning, Blossompaw," she responded hoarsely. "Are you in any condition to go hunting? Tawnyfoot is gathering a patrol right now."

Truth be told, Blossompaw didn't want to venture out into the cold and risk freezing to death on a hunting trip. Nonetheless, it was for the good of the Clan. The more cats who were well and able to go out hunting the better. She hoped that she could convince Mintpaw to come with her.

"I'm in fine condition today, I'm just hungry," she meowed. "I'll see about going on that control. I'm going to try and convince Mintpaw to come with me."

"We're all hungry," meowed Ferntail with a sigh. "I can feel the hunger eating away at my belly. I haven't had food in days now."

Blossompaw looked at her mentor sympathetically.

"I'll try to bring something back for you, Ferntail," she mewed.

Ferntail shook her head weakly. "Don't worry about me. It's the sick cats and the queens that need the prey. I plan on going out with the afternoon patrol. If we have any extra prey, I can eat then."

Blossompaw always admired her mentor's selflessness. If she had gone days without food, she was sure she would eat the first thing she caught, even if it wasn't right to do so. She was just an apprentice, and she needed food too. Usually after the queens and the weaker cats, it was the apprentices who were fed. The warriors went without food for days at a time, and as a result it was hard for them to gather the energy to even go hunting to begin with.

"Alright. I'm going to wake Mintpaw now." She meowed as she turned towards the apprentice den.

The spotted brown tabby was still sleeping soundly. Blossompaw nudged her a little bit with her nose. When this failed to wake the sleeping apprentice, Blossompaw began to prod Mintpaw with her paw.

"Wake up," she whispered.

Mintpaw opened her pale green eyes, grunting as she did.

"What is it? Is the hollow crumbling?"

Blossompaw shook her head.

"Well, there's no reason to wake me up, then," Mintpaw mumbled. She shut her eyes and tried to go to sleep again.

"Mintpaw, I want you to go on patrol with me," Blossompaw meowed to her friend. "Get up and come with me, won't you?"

There was an annoyed grunt from Mintpaw.

"_Please_!" begged Blossompaw. She jabbed her friend in the side with one claw. Mintpaw jumped up with a squeak of pain. She stumbled out of the den and into the snow.

She licked the spot that Blossompaw had clawed.

"Ow!" Mintpaw exclaimed.

Blossompaw rolled her eyes and followed her friend out of the den.

"Relax, you're not hurt," she mewed. Her tail was twitching with slight irritation. "I only poked you in the side with my claw. Look, you're not even bleeding or anything. Calm down and stop making big deals out of small things."

"It did hurt," insisted Mintpaw. Her meow had a joking tone to it now. "You tried to stab me with your claw, and I'm going to tell Tawnyfoot!"

Mintpaw jumped up and began to run towards the Clan deputy, giggling as she did. Blossompaw caught onto the joke and rushed after her, trying to pounce on her to stop her from telling. She leaped into the air and landed on Mintpaw's back, and they both tumbled into the snow. They stood up, covered in white powder.

Tawnyfoot was standing over them, looking less than amused about their play.

"Are you ready to go on patrol, Blossompaw and Mintpaw?" she asked them, a hint of sternness in her voice.

They both righted themselves and dipped their heads.

"Yes, Tawnyfoot," murmured Blossompaw. Her ears grew hot with embarrassment.

Mintpaw looked like she was trying to stifle a giggle.

"That's what I thought," meowed Tawnyfoot. She turned to the rest of the patrol.

Heavybird, Sharpthorn, and Silentflight were the other cats coming on the patrol with them. They were the only two apprentices out of the bunch, and neither of their mentors had decided to go on this morning hunting patrol. They had to be on their best behavior, as they were with many of the senior warriors of the Clan. They hoped that they could bring back at least a little bit of prey. If they couldn't, there was a chance that some of the cats back in camp wouldn't make it through the rest of the day.

_Today I will fight.  
_


	4. In Eternal Silence

**CHAPTER TWO**

_In Eternal Silence_

_xxx_

**The soft crunch **of pawsteps in the snow was the only sound that could be heard as the patrol set out to hunt. Blossompaw was at the back of the group with Mintpaw by her side. The rules were that everyone had to hunt with a partner nearby, lest they get completely lost in the whited out landscape. They would all diverge as soon as they were far enough from the Clan, each cat going off with their chosen partner. Before this system had been put in place, many cats were lost when they went out hunting in the icy forest. They were found dead days later, frozen and covered in snow, like a statue of ice.

Blossompaw knew exactly where her mother had been found dead. It was down by the edge of the dried up lake. Her blood had leaked all over the ground and froze, and her eyes were plucked out by ravens. No one sat vigil with her because of the stench. There was nothing left of her insides. All her meat and guts had been taken by the scavengers of the forest. There had been the disturbing faded scent of ShadowClan by her that day. No one could shake the feeling that maybe they were so desperate that they became scavengers themselves, and feasted on the flesh of a fallen ThunderClan she-cat.

The group began to break up, two cats going in each direction. Blossompaw and Mintpaw continued to walk straight ahead, neither of them saying anything because one had to hunt in total silence. That was another rule that Eaglestar had made. No cats may utter a word as soon as they left the camp, lest they scare away the valuable prey that hid in the woods. The apprentices could wait to speak to each other until they got back to camp.

Mintpaw sniffed the air, looking around. She crouched into hunting position, her tail lashing back and forth as she inched slowly towards a cardinal that was perched on a low hanging branch. When she got close enough, her eyes flashed, and she launched herself into the air. She caught the bird by the wing as it was preparing to take flight, and she pushed it to the ground. She smacked it with one paw, claws unsheathed. This stunned the bird enough to let Mintpaw bend down to bite its fragile neck.

As much as she wanted to congratulate her friend for her kill, Blossompaw held her tongue. She didn't want to frighten any other birds who were in the area. The cardinal hadn't had time to make enough noise to scare them away. Blossompaw admired her best friend's skills. She was an excellent huntress, and would be very valuable to the Clan in their time of need.

Unfortunately, there was the chance that this bird was the only prey that any of the cats would bring back. They were lucky just to have that. Mintpaw didn't bury the bird in the snow, though, as foxes were clever enough to dig it up. She carried it along with her, guaranteeing that she would not lose it to any other animals.

They continued to walk until their pads were cold and sore. They couldn't tell where they were, and they had yet to come across anymore prey. There was an familiar yet unidentifiable scent in the air. Blossompaw could taste it in her mouth. Mintpaw couldn't smell or taste anything in the air with that bird in her mouth. Blossompaw would have asked her to confirm the scent otherwise, but she remembered at the last second that she was forbidden to speak.

Her ears pricked as the sound of dry leaves rustling on a branch caught her attention. Perhaps another bird had landed, and the apprentices would bring back two pieces of prey for their starving Clan. She narrowed her eyes and tried to get the animal in her sights. A dead bush shook nearby her, and without thinking she pounced and caught her claws on something furry and dark. There was a horrible hiss, and she felt a paw smack her face, leaving stinging lines of claws. She was pushed into a tree, knocking her head against it and sliding down into the snow.

Blood was dripping into her eyes. She saw it before they closed. Darkness overwhelmed her, and even though she struggled to keep her consciousness, she couldn't. She was injured in deep snow, with her attacker right next to her.

She couldn't call for help.

She wouldn't want to scare the prey away.

_Today I will fall._


	5. A Captive Heart

**CHAPTER THREE**

_A Captive Heart_

_xxx_

**Blossompaw opened her **bright green eyes. The entire world was blurred and swirling. Her pelt stung with the cold, and she lifted her head weakly. Spatters of crusted blood dotted her patched fur. She did not know where she was. This territory was unfamiliar, but the stench that surrounded her reminded her of something. She was too dizzy, too out of place to figure out what the scent came from. She only knew that she was not in ThunderClan territory any longer.

A dark shadow loomed over her, a warrior whom she did not know. His amber eyes were piercing and deep. His fur was long and jet black, save for one paw that was white in color. This paw was stained a red-pink with someone's blood. Probably her blood. She opened her mouth to hiss a warning to him, but found she was unable to. Her head was pounding with pain. She extended her small white claws.

"You're small, but you're a fighter," meowed the tom. "Look at you with your claws out already. You don't even know if I'm friend or foe."

He sat down in the snow, his tail swishing back and forth through it, leaving an impression.

"Of course, here you are laying in the snow with an awful head injury and blood all over your body. Here I am, your attacker standing over you with his claws out and his eyes gleaming with a lust for prey," he went on. "I must be foe, mustn't I?"

Blossompaw swallowed. She wasn't sure if she was going to die today or not.

"I..." The only word she could get out. Her throat was dry and sore. Her mouth felt like cotton.

He leaned towards her and whispered into her delicate little ear. "Put your claws away, young warrior. My name is Eclipse."

She looked up at him through innocent eyes. She sheathed her dainty claws and took in a shuddering breath.

"Now that I've told you my name, I wish you'd tell me yours," Eclipse meowed. "I know that it may take you a moment or two to regain your composure. You're still reeling from that blow to the head I gave you."

"My name... is Blossompaw..." She choked out the words with all the strength she could muster.

Eclipse looked at her with amusement. "A pretty name for a pretty young warrior."

He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and carried her away. Her body was limp and sore. She couldn't struggle to try and get away. She was carried and dragged through the highest snow she'd seen. At points she was completely under cold snow. She did not know who this cat who called himself Eclipse was, but he was not from any of the Clans. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong about him though.

She was carried into a tunnel where there was less snow, and it was tighter and warmer. It was like a safe haven away from the snow. She could understand why a rogue would want to live in a place like this. She could see glowing eyes in the distance. There were others here. In the darkness there lurked about three more of them, each of them rather petite. They looked half starved to death. Their ribs were poking out through their fur. They were raggedy and their eyes were drained of color.

Eclipse dropped Blossompaw onto the soft leaves of the tunnel floor. Blood was rushing through to her head, and she attempted to get up, only to falter and collapse.

Out of the shadows, a timid silver and white she-cat wandered. She sniffed Blossompaw's pelt, and jerked back as though the scent was horribly unpleasant.

"Who is this, Eclipse?" she asked.

"This is a newcomer, she calls herself Blossompaw," he meowed in reply. His tail was twitching, brushing through the leaves and stirring them up into the air. "She comes from one of those groups of cats. She's a vicious young thing. She tried to fight back, but obviously not even a warrior could win a battle with me."

The she-cat nodded. "You truly are the best fighter in the entire forest."

Eclipse purred. "Thank you, Moth."

A young brown tabby tom gingerly stepped towards Blossompaw. He couldn't be older than five moons. "What's wrong with her, is she broken?" he muttered. He prodded Blossompaw with his paw, trying to get her to move.

"Not broken, Sparrow, just a little dazed and confused," Eclipse replied. "Give her some time and she'll come around. I knocked her against a tree, that would stun any cat."

"Oh," murmured Sparrow.

"Why would you knock her against a tree?" meowed a pale orange she-cat. "She's just a kit. She isn't a threat, not in the slightest."

Eclipse sighed. "She startled me, Honey. You know how fast my reflexes are when I'm startled."

"Nonetheless, you should have stopped and thought for a second before attacking her," Honey insisted.

"If she had been a full grown warrior, that could have given her an advantage," he replied calmly. "Now go back to your kits, Honey, you're irritating me."

Honey dipped her head and slid back to her nest.

Blossompaw looked up at the cats weakly.

"Where am I...?" she murmured in confusion.

Eclipse chuckled as he leaned towards her, his whiskers twitching with amusement. "Hello young warrior. You're in my group of rogues. You have one of three options... you could stay with us, and hunt with us; we could offer you to your Clan in exchange for food; or... we could use _you _as food."

She gasped, bile rising in her throat. Cats were so desperate that they were willing to eat their own kind.

"I... I don't know what to do, just don't turn me into prey," Blossompaw pleaded.

"Make your decision, young warrior," growled Eclipse.

There was no way she could go for ransom. Her Clan needed prey to survive, and they wouldn't risk starvation just to get her back. There was only one option left.

"I'll join you," she rasped.

Eclipse smiled a broad, wily smile. "Good choice, young warrior. We'll call you Blossom, Blossompaw's not a name that would fit here. Enjoy your stay. Moth will give you instructions on what to do, and tell you how we live here."

She looked down sadly. No Clan name, no one who would come looking for her... she was alone in the world. If only Mintpaw were here. If only someone she knew would come and rescue her from these horrible rogues. Alas, this didn't seem to be plausible. ThunderClan would abandon her. She could only hope that StarClan would deliver her.

_Today I will pray._


	6. Beautiful Liar

**CHAPTER FOUR**

_Beautiful Liar_

_xxx_

**Blossom spent her **days hunting in the cold deep snow, until the pads of her paws were frozen and her fur was covered in the frost of the winter. Her whiskers would droop, and her nose was crusted over. Eclipse kept her outside for a long time, with Sparrow watching over her to make sure she didn't try to escape and run back to her Clan. Sparrow wasn't a very strong cat, but Blossom wasn't fed very much, and all of the hunting kept her weak. She swore that when she was strong enough, she would get away from Sparrow and find ThunderClan again.

The younger cat trailed after her through the snow, looking just as miserable as she. She wondered if perhaps he had come from one of the Clans, having been stolen when he was just a young kit. The swirling tabby patterns of his fur reminded her of knots on a tree. Blossom couldn't help but wonder why Eclipse would send such a pathetic little cat to watch over her. Maybe he was mocking her. Taunting her. She was supposed to be a warrior cat, but couldn't even escape from this scrap.

She wasn't about to let Eclipse play mind games with her. He may have had the rest of his rogues worshiping the ground he stepped on, but he wasn't about to make her bend to his will. She was stronger than that. She came from the Clans, she trained to deal with conditions like this and even worse.

A snap of twigs alerted her to a timid squirrel who'd come to get some food from its supply. She crouched down and weakly leaped on it, snapping its neck. Sparrow trotted up behind her and looked at the piece of prey with approval.

"Good catch," he meowed. "We should bring it back to Eclipse now. Maybe he'll reward you for getting this. We've not got much to eat back at home. He's got Moth out hunting but she's not a very good hunter. She's stupid, I think, kind of like you." He snatched the squirrel away from Blossom before she could take a bite of it. She growled at him viciously.

"You'd better watch out, puny kit," she spat in his face. "I could break your neck like a twig, like the neck of the squirrel I just caught."

Sparrow looked startled, but he didn't do more than flinch. "If you hurt me, Eclipse would hurt you. You don't want to make him mad, do you?"

Blossom let out another warning growl. "Let's just get back there. I'm freezing my tail off out here."

They turned around and walked back to the tunnel cave that the rogues lived in. Sparrow padded in ahead of her and presented the squirrel to Eclipse, looking for approval.

"Did you catch this, or did the pretty little warrior?" Eclipse asked, his voice deep as he stared at Sparrow.

Sparrow looked back at Blossom, and for a moment she thought he was going to lie and claim it was his. He changed his mind, though, and lowered his head. "It was her. I couldn't locate anything to catch. Don't be disappointed in me. I watched her and made sure that she didn't get away."

Eclipse raised a paw and smacked Sparrow, sending him into the wall of the tunnel with a soft thud. "You're such a foolish little kit," he growled. "You could do so much better than that. We need food, and you're going to get it for me. Get back out there, alone this time. Blossom can stay here, since she managed to catch something. If you see Moth out there, tell her to try harder!" The black and white tom was practically shaking with rage.

Letting out a cry of pain, Sparrow scrambled to his paws and rushed out of the tunnel. Blossom could see blood dripping from his head as he rushed away. It scattered on the ground behind him, and she felt a little bit worried for him. He may be a rogue, but he was just a kit. He wasn't even old enough to be an apprentice yet. Alone out there in the cold with a wound like that could kill him.

Blossom was left alone with Eclipse, and he moved towards her with muscles rippling under his sleek pelt. "So little warrior, you're a good huntress? That's just what I wanted. I'm sure you'll bring me many pieces of fine prey to last me through this winter." He pulled himself closer to her until he was practically crouched on top of her. Blossom froze, he was standing on top of her in a position for mating. Her heart beating quickly, she pulled away from him before he could go any further.

"What's wrong, my beauty? Why are you so afraid of me?" he meowed in a smooth but vicious voice. "Be a good little she-cat like Honey... and even Moth, and just relax."

She unsheathed her claws and scratched him across the face, though it was so weak that it hardly even left a scratch. Eclipse seemed both amused and enraged by her actions. He jumped on top of her and grabbed her scruff with her teeth. She let out a screech, struggling to get away from him. He wouldn't stop, he just kept going. Her body was aching as he clawed at her sides and forced himself on her. In a few moments he was done, and she stared in horror, panting.

"You - you - " Blossom stammered. She had expected to do this with a cat she loved, not this brutish rogue. She crept away, down inside the tunnel feeling worse than she'd ever felt. There was nothing that was going to stop her from getting back at Eclipse now. He was going to pay, and that was that.

_Today I will scream._


End file.
